


The Office

by TrashFoot



Category: Linkin Park
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, F/M, Fluff and Smut, I wrote this fic for me but y’all can read it if you want, Reader-Insert, Recreational Drug Use, Self-Insert, alcohol use, bonus chapter feat., consensual female recieving oral sex, consensual protected sex, don't worry they go into treatment, idk how the role of project manager actually works and at this point i’m too afraid to ask, not that it actually matters in this piece of fiction anyways lmao, partially inspired by The Office
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 12:57:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20153974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashFoot/pseuds/TrashFoot
Summary: "This is it. Your first day. After months of rejections— if you were lucky enough to get a response— you finally got accepted to a job interview. After the process of applying, going through a phone interview, the in-person interview, and then waiting to hear any news, you were more than ecstatic to get the job. Linking Parks was a growing tech company, and you were their newest project manager. You thought it was ironic that you, an introvert, would get yourself a job primarily built on socialization and, well, extroversion. But in your experience— 2 1/2 years putting up with a big company and their policies, schedules, hours and pay, crappy team members and an even worse boss— you were able to handle things, becoming extroverted when need be and going home and relaxing. You were just praying you weren’t trading one crappy job chock full of bad co-workers for the same thing."





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> Y/F/N Y/L/N = Your First Name, Your Last Name  
Y/N = Your Name

This is it. Your first day. After months of rejections— if you were lucky enough to get a response— you finally got accepted to a job interview. After the process of applying, going through a phone interview, the in-person interview, and then waiting to hear any news, you were more than ecstatic to get the job. Linking Parks was a growing tech company, and you were their newest project manager. You thought it was ironic that you, an introvert, would get yourself a job primarily built on socialization and, well, extroversion. But in your experience— 2 1/2 years putting up with a big company and their policies, schedules, hours and pay, crappy team members and an even worse boss— you were able to handle things, becoming extroverted when need be and going home and relaxing. You were just praying you weren’t trading one crappy job chock full of bad co-workers for the same thing.

You straightened out your black blazer and the hem of your white blouse and made sure there was nothing on the matching knee-length skirt before knocking on the door in front of you. You were told to go to your new boss’ office in room 200B so that you can learn the ins and outs of the company and the floor you’ll be working on.

“Come in!” You heard from behind the door. Opening the door, it wasn’t much of an impressive office at first glance, but you weren’t gonna start judging your new boss’ office now; you had time to do that later.

“Um, hello.” You greeted the man sitting at his desk with a hand shake as he stood for you, “I’m Y/F/N Y/L/N, the new project manager.”

“Yep, thought so. Right on time. I like that.”

“Good, I try my best to be on time, if not earlier.” You weren’t expecting his height or the way his shorter hair was so casually brushed upwards, almost contradicting the business-professional suit he was wearing. You didn’t really know what to expect what your boss was going to look like. One thing you didn’t count on was your boss being so cute.

“That’s really great, I’m liking you already. My name is Rob Bourdon, but you can just call me Rob. I’m gonna show you around the floor and introduce you to some people, and your team, before showing you to your desk and telling you about your first project.”

“Okay.”

You were shown around a mix of open-air desks, two of which housed some of your team members, Joe and Dave, who you found to be funny quickly when they quoted one liners from your favorite comedy movie without even knowing about it. When you guys moved on to the section of the floor that housed the cubicles, amongst the other co-workers you met, you met the remaining members of your team: Brad, who was very focused on his task at hand, Mike, who was also focused but on something him and Chester were collaborating on. Chester was in the middle of a story when Rob interrupted by clearing his throat and introduced you.

“Hey. I’m Chester.” The man in the white work shirt with a black grid pattern and black tie and glasses said. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing tattoos covering his forearms, and possibly higher you assumed. 

“I’m Mike.” He said smiling, raising a hand in a hello gesture. He has a similar shirt in blue, and clear Ray-Ban-like glasses to boot. You gave them both a small hello and introduced yourself as the new project manager. “Cool! We’ve already got a list of ideas for the project we’ve been working on. It’ll be cool to work with The Dream Team again.” Mike smiled and Chester giggled at the nostalgia.

“My half of The Dream Team was way better and you know it, Shinoda.”

“No way!” Y/N was enjoying the friendly teasing, but was quick to tell them,

“Don’t worry you guys, this time around there’ll be one dream team. I’m sure both of you can combine forces?”

“I think I can.” Mike replied. “I don’t know about him, though.”

“Oh, I will if you will. It should be interesting to combine forces with a friend.”

“Good.” You said.

“Alright, let me show you to your desk and your first major project.” Rob said. “We’ll pass by the mail room, too.” As the two of you walked together, you got more and more excited about this job. Your co-workers were nice enough so far, the layout was easy enough to navigate in case you needed to catch up with anyone, and the boss was great too. You couldn’t help but try and sneak a few more glances at Rob before your time together was up. As you arrived at your desk and got yourself set up, you tried to convince yourself that nothing would— that nothing  _ should _ — happen between the two of you; he’s your boss for crying out loud, and this is your first day! There’s so much good potential here already and you knew it, and you didn’t want to risk messing everything up. 

Over the course of the next month or so, you were able to get to know the people around you. Not just your desk neighbors, but “The Dream Team” as well. Your initial judgements of them came out somewhat true; Dave and Joe were good sources of jokes and fun— as was Chester, it turned out— but Brad and especially Mike were able to not only stay focused themselves but reel in the rest of the team too when the joking around was getting too much and they needed to get work done. The team had even invited you out for a drink a few times, where you had only accepted once or twice. You had little interactions with Rob here and there, but not only did he seem busy but was also about as introverted as you were, seeming to have a routine and keeping to himself most of the time, unless otherwise interrupted. You were really fitting in here though, and you were happy with how things were. Your crush on Rob on the other hand seemed only to be getting worse as time went on.


	2. I'm Not That Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, the second chapter in, and you already get your heart broken. Yikes.

You’ve been hearing from some of the girl friends you had made at the office— primarily Talinda, Heidi, and Anna— of the biggest office party of the year. It’s a simple premise: it celebrates some of the big projects and hard work, all of the successes everyone has had, that has been done over the year. You had only been at Linking Parks for a few months now, so you weren’t expecting an invite. You only had one big project down so far this year, and were in the midst of getting another one started with The Dream Team. But you were surprised when an invitation popped up in your little bottom corner mailbox. Of course, there was one in practically everyone else’s too, but you didn’t care, you were excited to go.

The night of, you stood in front of the mirror, fretting that your light blue A-line halter dress was too far above the knee and you would be asked to leave in the most embarrassing way possible.

“Y/N, it’s like an inch above your knee, you’ll be  _ fine _ .” Talinda reassured you. Chester’s girlfriend worked in the public relations department, and looked stunning in her sparkly dark blue dress with gold accessories. Anna of the human resources department, in her cream form-fitting dress with black blazer and black belt, joined in,

“Yes! You look perfect! Now get your clutch and let’s go! Mike’s waiting for us outside!” There was something about this moment that felt somewhat like prom. Mike drove them to the out-of-town venue with his girlfriend Anna up front, and you were stuck to Chester and Talinda’s right side in back. You were the only dateless friend back then, and here you were again. But both then and now, you weren’t there for dates and drama, you were there for a night of fun with friends. You were staring out the window into the dark night when an elbow to the ribs brought you back to reality.

“You excited?” Chester asked. He did look good in his blue suit with white shirt, sans tie. You nodded yes.

“And you?”

“Oh, hell yeah!”

“Now honey, please don’t drink too much tonight.” Talinda gently asked of him.

“But—”

“Please, for me?”

“Okay. Fine.”

“Alright,” Mike announced, “we’re here!” Chester whooped and got everyone, including you, excited for their ‘big entrance.’

Fine, it wasn’t much of a ‘big entrance,’ but entering the venue, it felt big. You felt smaller than you already were in the grand foyer under all the fairy lights, but it was nice. The waiters in white carrying champagne was definitely a nice touch. Man, they really did go all out for this party. As you were taking in the sights and sounds, your friends wandered ahead of you towards the main event of the party.

“Hey.” You jumped, not expecting the voice next to you. You were surprised you didn’t see Rob approach, but you guessed you were too caught up in the beauty. “You look great tonight.” Your heart leapt up into your throat as you noticed how good he was looking tonight too; though you were used to seeing him in a suit for work, that was only business level. Tonight you got to see that he really dressed up well.

“Thanks, so do you.” You began silently praying that you weren’t blushing too hard.

“Thank you. Well, there’s a buffet and plenty of drinks, so help yourself.”

“I will.” You made your way over, coming up with a crazy idea on the way. What if you told him how you felt? You’ve told yourself a million times since you started work for him that that would be the end of your career if things went wrong, which you knew was the most likely case. The logical part of your brain tried to fight it, but something in you took over. You grabbed a glass of champagne and drank it, needing some liquid courage for the stupidest thing you were going to do since you graduated college.

You looked around for him, standing on your tippy toes near the buffet table trying to find him. You spotted him standing between a cloth-covered table dotted with empty champagne glasses and the wall, talking to a beautiful blonde woman in a dress closer to Talinda’s in prettiness. Finishing off your drink, you placed it onto the edge of the buffet table and started making your way over. You watched as Rob and the blonde leaned into each other and kissed. You stopped dead in your tracks and watched for what felt like an hour, feeling cracks forming in your heart as it broke. Not wanting to feel the pain anymore, you quickly stopped watching and saved yourself some embarrassment, finding the nearest door that led you outside. After weaving through the crowd that was clinging to the edge of the room, you found yourself on the venue’s deck, fairy lights twinkling as the banisters looked out towards a large meadow hidden in the darkness of night. You took a seat on the very edge of the stairs, not wanting to be in people’s way as you suffered in your own silence. You were thankful for the small amount of people out here, paired up and chatting away. You wanted to start crying but couldn’t bring yourself to do so. And so there you sat, all alone for a while, trying to do self-damage-control. You took a glass of champagne when offered to you by a waiter, and then a new presence sat down next to you and elbowed you in the ribs.

“Hey Y/N.” Chester said with a too-wide smile and a glass in his hand. “Enjoying the party?”

“I was.” You replied with a poor attempt at a smirk.

“What happened?”

“A whole thing. I actually haven’t told anyone about it yet.”

“D’you wanna tell me?”

“Mm, I don’t know.” You said. Then, there was that too-wide smile again.

“C’mon, you can trust me.” You sighed, needing to release some of the pain.

“Fine. But you won’t tell anyone, right?” Chester nodded. “Okay, so I’ve been crushing on Rob, right? Well, I just saw him kissing someone.”

“Ooh, that’s rough, buddy.” Suddenly a waiter came by offering to switch empty glasses for full ones. You took a drink for yourself after handing your empty glass over, and took the glass Chester grabbed for out of his hand.

“I’m just gonna take this, Talinda said don’t drink too much.”

“Oh, come on, I’m not drunk.” You raised an eyebrow at him when he swayed as he spoke. 

“Besides, after what I just went through, I’m gonna need this. I oughta get to your level of drunkeness— if not more.”

“Ugh, fine. Anything for a friend.” A moment passed between you two as you took a drink from one of the glasses. “Listen, I know this sucks right now, but I think you’ll get through it. I know we haven’t known each other forever, and we’re just co-workers and everything, but I bet you’re strong enough to get through this.”

“Thank you.” You said quietly and genuinely as tears stung the back of your eyes and a smile came to your lips. You let the rest of the champagne in the glass slide down your throat and set the empty glass down, starting on the next one. And there you two sat for most of the rest of the night and talked, getting to really know each other between people and friends coming by and sitting with you to joke and chat. You were thankful when the night was over and a sober Mike came to collect his drunk co-workers and friends. 

* * *

“Alright, before this meeting’s over, any questions, comments, concerns?” You asked of Brad, Mike, Joe, Dave, and Chester sitting around the conference table in front of you. Joe raised his hand. “Yeah, Joe?”

“Since it’s Friday, I was wondering if you wanted to come hang with us tonight?” You were a bit thrown off by the question, but since you had been trying to recover from your heartbreak for the past 2 weeks now, you figured it’d be good to get out and try and have some fun. Maybe that would help you move on some more.

“Well, what are you guys doing?”

“Bowling then arcade down the street.”

“Correction,” Dave interrupted, “ _ drunk _ bowling, then drunk Dave and Busters.” You gave it a second of thought even though you already knew your answer.

“Sure. I could use a night out. Alright, is that it?”

“Yeah.” Brad answered for everyone.

“Okay, good. See you guys after work.” The day was over quicker than you expected it to be— maybe the prospect of getting out of your apartment for the night helped. You  went home and changed into some of your more casual clothes, and received a text from Joe when they had arrived. Joe’s large black SUV helped clear any doubts of there being enough room for all of them.

Bowling was fun, surprisingly. You were initially nervous since you hadn’t bowled since you were in high school, but Chester’s low score, all the beer Brad was getting you guys, and Dave’s poor celebratory break dancing skills all made it worthwhile. After about three games and enough drinks to get you guys properly drunk for Dave and Buster’s, you guys were ready to take off your disgusting (in every sense of the word) bowling shoes and head down the block.

“Hey, guys— wait! Come over here,” Chester said, bringing the group over to the darkest side of the building, opposite the well-lit street, “we can’t just forget the best part.” From his pocket he revealed a beautifully colored glass smoking bowl.

“Chester,” Brad hissed through gritted teeth, “You can’t just  _ do _ that—”

“Yeah dude, remember she’s our  _ boss! _ ” Mike quietly threw in.

“Guys, don’t worry, I’m not a narc.” Looking at it, it made you think. Since you had already agreed to go out and get drunk, you figured what the hell, why not say yes to one more thing? Why not make this a night of yes? Yes to letting go, yes to getting what you want. Clearly you weren’t getting Rob, so why not indulge yourself, even for just one night? “...Besides, I haven’t smoked since my high school friend’s birthday bash back in September.”

As the guys all relaxed and chatted, many of their questions and comments geared towards you, Chester prepared things and got the first light. Once it got passed around enough times for everyone to get a sufficient fill, Chester quickly cleaned it out and stored it away. With a new excitement buzzing within the group, you guys were all ready to go. As you all began to head out of the bowling alley parking lot, a familiar car turned in and pulled into the nearest available spot. Rob’s familiar face hopped out, and the face of a blonde woman you had only seen once before hopped out of the passenger side.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey.” The group answered simultaneously. You heard one of the guys behind you whisper, What are we gonna do? And you calmly reassured them, stepping up.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, me and Vanessa are gonna go bowling.”

“Yeah,” She said, helping him answer, “we’re just on a little date.”

“Aw, that’s nice.”

“What about you guys?”

“Oh we just got done,” you said.

“Yeah,” Brad chimed in, “we’re all going bowling.”

“Brad, we just got done bowling, we’re going to Dave and Buster’s.” You told him.

“Right.”

“We’re going to Dave and Buster’s.”

“Oh, cool, well have fun.” Rob said with a smile.

“You too.” Mike said, and the two groups parted ways. As soon as you were far enough from Rob and Vanessa, you started giggling.

“Oh my God! Of course!”

“What?” Chester asked.

“As  _ soon _ as Rob got out of the car,  _ that’s _ when the weed hit me.” As you traveled with The Dream Team, the way there was filled with stories of trying to keep it together while intoxicated, and you were actually feeling happy, as crappy as it was to see Rob and his girlfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title inspired by a song from Wicked of the same name.
> 
> You can see "your" light blue A-line halter dress here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/305048574758317170/


	3. I’m Still Standing/Gives You Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've started to move on from from your crush on Rob and the heartbreak that came with it, but a new problem arrises within the team.

You were fine now. Time moved on and things got easier; at first, seeing Rob at work all the time was rough, knowing he was happy with someone else. But that was the thing- eventually, with some advice and help from Chester (and eventually Talinda, Anna, and Heidi), you accepted that he was happy, and you were happy for him. These days, Talinda was expressing her worry about Chester though.

And so was The Dream Team.

They were noticing he was smelling like alcohol at work. That he was bringing heavier drugs to Friday night bowling. When he started missing out on meetings, coming in later and later to work and eventually people began to wonder if he’d show up at all. He was getting reprimanded more often by you and Rob. You were hoping that would make something in his head click and he’d start showing up on time again and magically go back to the way things were.

“Alright, now that that’s finished,” you said, wanting to wrap up this meeting and get going, “any end-of-meeting questions or concerns?”

“I have a concern,” Mike pipped up. “Chester. He’s not here again and we  _ need _ him.”

“He’s been drinking a lot more— like more than usual.” Joe added.

“Hasn’t he always drank a lot?” Brad asked.

“Well, he’s doing a lot more drugs.” Dave threw in.

“Like what kinds?” You asked.

“He’s told me he’s been trying out coke again.” Joe said.

“Again?! What do you mean again?!” You asked.

“I don’t know, he said again.” Joe said, looking defensive.

“Well, obviously we’re gonna have to do something.” You said, sounding defeated.

“Well we’re gonna have to talk to him.”

“What about an intervention?” Brad suggested. 

“I don’t know, but, I’ll talk to Talinda, suggest an intervention and if she’s got any other ideas, I’ll take it ‘cause I know both Rob and I have been on his ass about work and him getting fired will not help this situation. Anything else?” There was nothing but silence. “Okay, meeting’s over.”

* * *

“I know,” Talinda said, her voice breaking, tears showing up in her eyes. “I know. It’s just… When we moved in together, he was fine and sober. It all started back up with some nightmares coming back, and it just snowballed. I’ve been trying so hard to get him better and settled, but he just… he fights back, goes out, gets more. I’ve tried everything, throwing stuff out, taking stuff away and hiding it, I— I even threatened him once or twice that I was gonna leave. God, that didn’t help at all, but I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Oh, T, I’m so sorry.” You placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’re not alone in this fight— the team and I have been worried too, and we were coming up with ideas. We were thinking, maybe an intervention will help?”

“We can try, but how?”

“Well, we can have a meeting scheduled and just have it done in the conference room. But he’ll have to actually be at work.” 

“I can try and get him in.”

“Okay. Don’t worry. We’re gonna get through this.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“I… I don’t know.” You said honestly.

* * *

You saw Chester walk down the hall towards his desk, setting his backpack down next to his chair quietly. Talinda did her part, clearly. You wrote up an email quickly to The Dream Team (excluding Chester), Talinda, and Heidi, and Anna was included as well as she was wearing her HR cap and helping to lead the intervention, explaining that the intervention was happening today and to remain normal beforehand yet prepare themselves. Anna had already asked them to write up short letters explaining how Chester’s addiction affected them personally and give him an ultimatum if necessary. This whole intervention made you nervous, mostly because if it didn’t work out, Talinda and the others had you to blame. As the usual time in the day to hold the meeting approached, you nervously held your cursor over the send button in your email, giving the team a 15 minute warning to the meeting. You closed your eyes before clicking. Once it was done, you closed your laptop and made your way to the conference room to help Talinda, Heidi, and Anna prepare.

Chester was the second to last to file in before Dave, who gently closed the door behind him. He gave a questionable look as their usual table was folded up in the back corner and the chairs were placed in a circle.

“What’s going on?” He asked. You really didn’t wanna answer that question, at least not truthfully. You wanted to say you were playing musical chairs or something, or the people who had the room before left it this way. But, you couldn’t. He had helped you out, now it’s time to return the favor.

“A meeting,” You said hesitantly, and once you saw him sit down, you hit him with the truth: “an intervention. Anna?”

“Wait— a what?” He asked.

“Chester,” Anna started, “the people present here are worried about you. We just wanna do what’s best for you.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no. No. Interventions are for people with  _ actual _ problems— I don’t have an  _ actual _ problem; my problem’s under control.”

“Chester, you’re missing work, you’re missing meetings.”

“Our home life isn’t the same as it was.” Talinda added.

“Will you at least stay and listen to what everyone has to say?” Anna asked. Chester folded his arms over his chest and pouted angrily, not responding, but not moving either. “Heidi, do you wanna start, and then we’ll work our way around the circle?” Heidi nodded, and started reading her letter.

As friends, co-workers, and partners shared their stories, it was becoming more and more clear how much this was affecting Chester. At least, on the surface. For the moment. To you. The winds could shift and the ship could sink quickly. You just prayed it stayed afloat. He explained after Talinda’s letter, after they were both done crying in each other’s arms, how his addictions were coming back. He was doing so well, staying sober for so long, but then he got taken down by a few nightmares. Even just one of them brought with it old demons. Then he was scared he was losing Talinda, so instead of dealing with it, he just dove deeper into it. He wanted to get help, he said the words himself.

And so he did.

He decided to accept treatment. To take off work for 90 days and get some professional help. When it was all over, when he was hugging everyone, saying his apologies and whatever else needed to be said, you breathed your sigh of relief.


	4. This Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting with Rob and an attempt at help in the love department.

You placed your phone’s handset back in its place, just getting off the phone with Rob. He wanted to see you in his office. You mentally reviewed everything you did this week that could’ve been described as “wrong” in your boss’ eyes. You barely even had time to consider if the intervention may have been what did it before you poked your head into his office.

“Hey, you uh, wanted to see me?”

“Uh, yeah. Take a seat, and close the door please.” Doing as you were told, you gently closed the door behind you and sat down in front of his desk. The silence of the room was so overwhelming before he started the conversation. “I heard what you did for Chester. That was really nice what you did.”

“T-thank you.”

“Of course, it’s not great that he’s gonna be gone for so long, but that’s why we’ve got temps. I just wanted to thank you and uh— what’s the word? Like, um, exalt? I-I just wanted to at least give you some praise for helping out a co-worker in his time of need.”

“Thank you.”

“Alright, uh, that’s about it.” It felt like his voice was getting softer and quieter.

“Okay.” You got up to leave but before you opened the door, you impulsively had to ask what was on your mind. “Hey, um, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just... going through a break up.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, I think I’ll be okay.”

“You sure? If you want, we can talk about it, or—“

“It’s fine.”

“Oh, okay. Well if you ever—“

“—yeah—“

“My office is...”

“—yeah—“

“Yeah, it’s open.” After a moment, a genuine smile appears on his face.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Finally leaving his office, as awkward as your conversation was— that you couldn’t help, neither of you were always all that socially graceful all the time— you breathed out a breath you were unaware you were holding. Something in your chest fluttered and spread to your stomach. It filled you with fear for a moment because you thought you were over these feelings. You worked so hard to work past this! You can’t be crushing on your boss  _ again _ . Or… maybe you never really stopped crushing on him, simply burying the feelings until now, until a moment like this.

Plopping down in your desk chair, you realized that either way, this was happening as the feelings hit you like a circus train. You wanted to talk to someone— Chester! Except Chester was gone. Your one go-to advice consultant was off “dealing with a family emergency,” and you were left to figure this out for yourself. There was no way you were gonna start hitting on a guy fresh out of a relationship, especially your boss for crying out loud, but you wouldn’t be opposed to taking your relationship to another level with him. You looked at the clock in the bottom corner of your computer, and realized it was time to get going to your meeting with The Dream Team. You’d have to shelve your problem until later. If you could.

Arriving a minute or two late, you were happy to see the guys already there— except for Chester’s temp, Mark.

“Hey guys, where’s Mark?”

“Still working at Ches’ desk.” Mike answered. “Rob said he doesn’t qualify for what we’re working on, so we have to work with one less guy.”

“Really? I just met with Rob and he didn’t mention anything—” You let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of your nose as you placed a hand on the table in front of you.

“It’s not that bad, we can pick up the slack.” Mike said quickly. You sighed again. You told yourself you’d handle your own problems, and you were going to stick to it.

“No, it’s not that— it just… Let’s just get started.” You tried not to sound too angry.

* * *

The next time The Dream Team met, Rob was sitting in on the meeting, catching up with the project’s progress. You guys were almost all done— ahead of schedule— and he wanted to make sure that not only things were running smoothly, but that he knew what to explain to any investors interested in the product. You seemed a bit distracted throughout the meeting, and you knew that. Not only that, but you knew your team noticed too. You put yourself in the team’s shoes and figured out quick that they were most likely thinking that it was just because Rob’s the boss sitting in on an important meeting, but it was a little more than that.

You managed to get through the meeting, stumbling minimally. As the guys filed out, you stayed behind to sort yourself out and collect your things. Rob was hanging back too, sorting through notes he had written for himself for later.

“Hey,” Rob started, “nice meeting. Very informative.”

“Thanks. I uh, hope I didn’t mess up too much.”

“Once or twice, but you were okay.” As a brief moment of silence fell between you two, and a question popped up in your head and you couldn’t stop yourself from asking it.

“Hey, uh, what are you doing this weekend? Maybe we can hang out or something.” You prayed it sounded more friendly than intended.

“Oh, I uh— I’m gonna be drowning in paperwork. Sorry.” He looked downward, “It’s just, stuff’s gotta get signed for corporate and shipped out, and... a lot of other really boring  stuff.” He chuckled shyly.

“Oh, okay,”

“Sorry.”

“No, no- it’s fine.” You finished collecting your things and left the room, silently trying to recover from the rejection without hitting yourself and calling yourself stupid. As you  sat down, you realized that you just don’t know what you’re doing in the love department.

* * *

During their next meeting, they finished up the work that needed to be done immediately by the time they hit the halfway mark in the meeting. That’s when Joe got curious.

“Hey, Y/N, are you okay? You’ve been like… really distracted lately.”

“Yeah.” Brad commented. Suddenly, you felt painted in a corner, not knowing what to say. You weren’t expecting to be called out, and you had no good excuse coming to mind. After a few moments of your brain still coming up with nothing, you sighed.

“Alright, you wanna know something?” You started, sitting on the table you normally stood in front of. There wasn’t any choice but to come clean. “I was going to Chester for advice for this, but since he’s not here, I’ve been struggling.”

“What’s going on?” Dave asked.

“I’ve got a crush, and I’m not handling it all that great.”

“Oh! A crush on who?! Tell us!” Joe exclaimed impatiently. This made you notice that the door was ajar, and you went over to close it before speaking further.

“Okay, okay, it’s…” You scrunched up your face, “Okay, don’t judge me on this: it’s Rob.” They oohed and aahed jokingly between each other. “God, I even went as far as trying to ask him out— well, kind of— but I got turned down. I just don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you out.” Joe said confidently. “Take it from me, the only guy here  _ not _ fighting with his girlfriend!”

“Hey! I know you and Heidi have been through a rough patch too, Mr. I’m-gonna-come-crying-to-Mike-when-she-won’t-return-my-calls.”

“Oh my God, who  _ cares _ .” Dave said, rolling his eyes. “Now we gotta think of something to help out Y/N.” They spent the rest of the meeting brainstorming, for once not coming up with any usable ideas.


	5. The Way I Feel Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dream Team comes in clutch in the most annoying way possible.

The day after your following meeting, Dave passed by your desk.

“Hey Y/N,”

“Hey Dave, what’s up?”

“Uh, the team and I just wanted to tell you, we want you to come to La  Château Sur La Colline tomorrow night, to celebrate us finally being done with the project.”

“Isn’t that that really nice restaurant?”

“Well, Rob’s gonna be there, so I assume it’s gonna be on the company’s bill.”

“Oh, okay. I’m good with that,” You said with a laugh. “I’m still probably gonna end up ordering the cheapest thing on the menu.”

“Yeah, I hear the chicken there is fantastic.” Dave said jokingly.

“Alright, I’ll see you guys there.”

“Yep, reservation’s at 7.”

“Alright.” You said, closing the conversation. You watched as he passed Mike’s desk on the way to the copy room and gave him a thumb’s up, and saying something you couldn’t quite pick up.

* * *

Friday came, and after work you took the time to get yourself gussied up and slipping into your ‘little black dress.’ As you walked across the parking lot from your car towards the restaurant's doors, you noticed Rob’s car pull in, just in time. You stood outside and waited for him near the door, letting out a sigh of relief that you didn’t have to go in alone. He jogged a little as he approached, the suit he was wearing barely worked for even that kind of movement, clearly not wanting to make you wait any longer.

“Wow, you look great tonight.” Rob complimented.

“Thank you, so do you.” He opened the door for you, and as you thanked him you were also thankful that he didn’t get to see you blush. He walked up to the hostess, saying that you two were there for the Linking Parks 7:00 reservation. She grabbed two menus and led you both to a table for two. Rob shot you a confused glance, and you shot him one back, since it was your understanding that the rest of the team was going to be here. You both quickly ordered drinks so that you two could air out your confusion.

“Wait,” You started, “Dave told me the team was gonna be having dinner with us too.”

“Yeah, that’s what Mike told me.”

“Let me text them real quick.” You brought out your phone and typed out the message into the group chat: 

[**Text:** Y/N] Guys Rob & I are here but it’s just a table for two???

[**Text:** Dave] oh yeah we’re all uh

[**Text:** Dave] sick

[**Text:** Brad] Working

[**Text:** Joe] working sick

You rolled your eyes at their answers. Rob must’ve noticed this, since he asked, “What’d they say?”

“They made up some excuse that they’re all conveniently sick and/or working.” Your eyes widened in realization when you spoke those words out loud. “Oh. My. God.”

“What?”

“We’ve been set up.” Rob looked at you in confusion, but couldn’t do much about it as the waitress placed your white peach sangria and his beer in front of you both. You asked for a few more minutes to look at the menu, and to be able to talk to Rob. “There never was a “work dinner” planned. This is a dinner date.” You two sat in the revelation for what felt like a long, awkwardly silent time. Your eyes darted back and forth between him and the menu as you tried to spot out the cheapest thing; the grilled chicken breast with a side of asparagus. The waitress broke the silence for you two as she took your orders. After she left, Rob let out a tiny giggle. “What?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“ _ What? _ ” You asked a bit sternly.

“Nothing, it’s just… well, I’ve been wondering what a dinner date with you would be like.”

“Huh? But you were dating Vanessa…?”

“Yeah, but we broke up because... I couldn’t get past you. I only dated her ‘cause I never imagined you ever liking me back.” Now it was time for you to let out a laugh. The look on Rob’s face went from embarrassed-about-his-vulnerability to disappointed-in-the-outcome. “I’ll just go,” He said as he began to get up to leave.

“No! No, it’s not that—” You reached across the table to stop him, sitting him back down with a touch of his arm. “God... The night of that big office party, I was gonna finally tell you that I was crushing on you, but then I saw you kissing her, and... I don’t know. I tried to move on, but once I heard you had broken up with her, everything came rushing back.”

“So, wait— y-you like me?” Rob asked innocently, a blush creeping up to his cheeks. You nodded your head yes.

“You like me too, right? I didn’t just make myself look like an idiot in front of my boss?” You asked with a nervous smile. He nodded too, keeping his eyes on the tablecloth and biting his lip before answering and making eye contact.

“Yeah.” Your sigh of relief came out as another small giggle. You two continued with your dinner, giddy in the revelations that you two were both crushing on each other. Not only that, but you two were on a date.

As dinner ended, Rob stepped up and paid. You didn’t know if you wanted the dinner to end as you got to genuinely talk with him and really get to know each other— as far as  a first date would allow you to. You wanted more from him, with him. But as he walked you across the parking lot and to your car, your dreams of that happening tonight felt dashed.

“I had a really nice time tonight.” Rob started.

“Yeah, me too. I’m still gonna kill the team for doing this, though.”

“I don’t know, I’d go easy on ‘em.” He said with a smile.

“Fine.” You noticed Rob’s smile turn nervous. “What?”

“Uh, before I go, would... would it be too forward if we kissed?”

“No, not at all.” It was a really nice little kiss; you liked it. A lot. Maybe a little too much. Blushing, you laughed.

“What?” He laughed back.

“Nothing... uh, do you— no,  _ that’s _ probably too forward.”

“What?”

“Do you... wanna come back to my place?” You boldly asked, looking up at him through your lashes. Rob’s smile turned big and giddy as he looked off for the moment.

“Yeah, sure. You really wanna do this?” You nodded yes.

“Follow my car. I don’t live too far away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Your" 'little black dress' can be seen here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/452189618827254453/


	6. Gorilla (bonus chapter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Rob end up back at your place. Explicit sexual content ahead.

Finally unlocking the door to your small apartment, you wanted to comment that that took too long, but Rob’s lips on yours kept you from saying anything. He swatted the door shut and in a moment’s notice you were both making out against the wall opposite the front door. You could feel his hands sliding down the sides of your ribs and resting on your hips, rubbing small circles with his thumbs. He slowly moved his hips forward, making you aware of his readiness, while simultaneously not trying to rush things. You already felt wetness starting to pool down below.

His confidence caught you off guard; you wouldn’t have guessed that his confidence would’ve shined through here, but once you applied some thought to it, it made sense. At least in the moment it did. As you let out a small moan into the kiss as his hips rolled into yours, you dropped your keys to the floor along with your black clutch, mentally noting to remember to pick them up tomorrow morning. When you two finally separated for a few full breaths of fresh air, you switched the lights on with the help of the switch next to you.

“You wanna move this to the bedroom?” You asked him, looking into his brown eyes now looking black in the light, his pupils blown out to the edges. Rob nodded yes, his mouth too dry and his brain too muddled at the moment to make any coherent noise. You took his hand as you lead him through the kitchen/dining/living room, down to the end of a small hallway with a door to the left and, more importantly, the door in front of you. As soon as you turned on the room’s light, Rob quickly got to work, picking you up and sitting you down on the edge of your bed. Pushing up the bottom of your dress, he hungrily grabbed at your lacy thong, moving it down to your ankles for better access. 

“Is this okay?” Rob asked, wanting permission before really starting.

“Yes.” That’s all he needed as he placed his lips on your pussy and licked his way through the middle up to your clit. His tongue circled it, and you let out your first moan of pleasure. As he kept at it, you moaned out, “Oh, Rob, yes.” 

You ran your fingers through his hair, and he moved his tongue in a languid motion down from your clit to your vagina, and began darting it in and out of the hole. You started moaning louder at this action, and he began switching between your clit and your vagina. You got lost in the pleasure of it, and before you knew it, you were holding roughly onto Rob’s hair as you came for the first time that night.

“Mm, good girl,” he said, his voice deeper and filled with lust. “Love the taste of you.”

As your eyes fluttered open, they fluttered closed again as he came up for a kiss that tasted of you. As you two kissed, he began removing various articles of clothing, and you followed suit, starting with kicking your thong away as soon as you took off your flats. As soon as Rob helped you get your dress off before continuing getting his belt and pants off, you walked over to your bed’s right side table and opened the drawer.

“Hey Rob, what size condom are you?”

“You wanna use condoms?” he said as he dropped his pants to the floor and stepped out of them.

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

“No, I’m just glad you have them. I was just thinking about how I didn’t have any on me. I wasn’t expecting tonight to go this way,” he said with a chuckle as he dropped his boxers. Your jaw dropped to the floor when you caught sight of his erection.

“God…” you breathed out as you tried to take its size in. “I guess— I guess you’re a large then, huh?” He nodded.

“Is that a problem?”

“No,” your hand blindly tried to grab on to the drawer before turning back to it to look for it. As soon as it was in your hands, you walked it over to him and he thanked you and gently kissed you as he rolled it on. You were caught off guard when he shoved you back onto the bed and sensually crawled over you, kissing his way up your body. There was that unexpected confidence again, and you were loving it. A hand stayed behind down near your pussy as he started rubbing small circles onto your clit. You felt him dotting your collar bone with hickeys, and you hissed at the pain a bit until the pleasure took over. “What if someone at the office sees?”

“Let them. I want them to see,” he worked on another small hickey, “who did this to you.”

As he finished speaking, he began kissing you sensually as a finger entered your pussy, followed soon by another one. You moaned into his mouth at the feeling. By the time he entered a third and was pumping them away, you were close to another orgasm. He slid them out before you could tell him anything. Knowing what was about to happen, you wrapped your legs around his hips, readying yourself for round 2. 

“You ready?” You looked at him through your lashes and nodded.

“Yes.” You felt his tip at your entrance slowly slide in as you sucked in a breath.

“You okay?” He asked, the concern suddenly apparent in his voice, a change from the confident voice it just replaced.

“Yeah, so far.”

“Tell me if it gets to be too much.”

“Mhmm, I will.” You agreed as he began again. He let out a moan as he filled you up to the base of his shaft.

“Oh, that’s so good baby. Feels so good.” He began sliding himself in and out slowly, getting you used to the size. As he did so, you began moaning yourself as you got used to it. You felt his larger hands on your breasts as he began playing with them as he began going faster.

“Rob…” You moaned out, “ungh, Rob, that feels so good.” 

“You’re so tight, Y/N, so warm…” You felt wet sloppy kisses all on your neck and chest, some little bites on your breasts adding to the collection of hickeys. He moved his mouth over to your nipple, kissing and licking it. You hissed at the pain when he nibbled at it a bit. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just hurt.”

“Sorry,” he apologized, going back to kissing your breasts momentarily, and then getting back into the rhythm you two had set up. As you started getting back into it, you moaned out,

“Mm, Rob, faster…”

“Yes, whatever you want, babygirl.”

“Oh, Rob, God, I’m so close.”

“Go ahead,” he breathed out, “cum for me, Y/N. Come on,” After a few more pumps, you nearly yelled out,

“Ah, Rob, ah, I’m cumming!” Your eyes rolled back in pleasure as he spoke.

“Good girl, yes, cum all over my dick just like that. That’s my girl.” As you finished, you felt him pull out of you and place his strong hands on your sides, flipping you onto your stomach. He pulled you up onto all fours by your hair. You groaned at the pain as your post-orgasm brain tried to register what was happening. Rob quickly apologized, “Sorry.” 

It was quickly forgiven when he slid back into you. It felt as good as it has been, your pussy used to the size now. He got back into the rhythm, a little slower than it was, as he swatted at your ass. You moaned at the feeling— hard enough to register as pleasure, not so much as to feel painful.

“Again,” you said, and he did what he was told as he got into a faster rhythm. Your eyes rolled back into your head again as you shifted the weight from your hands down to your forearms. He slid his hands onto the sides of your hips as you kept your ass stuck up in the air for him.

“Yes,” Rob moaned out, “ugh, that feels so good.” You moaned yourself as you got a new sensation of pleasure with the new angle. “Oh, Y/N, I’m gonna cum.” After another pump or two, you admitted,

“Ah, me too.” He started going faster, and you started moaning louder, the sensation hitting you like a freight train. “Ah! Ah, Rob, I’m— ahh,” 

A moment later, he came too, face nuzzling into the back of your neck, breathlessly repeating your name as he momentarily lost himself in the pleasure. You didn’t realize how much he was sweating our how out of breath either of you were until you were both coming down and he was sliding out of you again, rolling over to the largest empty space in the bed. As badly as you wanted to nuzzle yourself into the crook of his neck, you were still too busy catching your breath and slowly coming back down to reality. You felt movement in the bed, and Rob was out of sight. You turned yourself onto your back to see if you could find him.

He was slipping off his condom, trying his best to make the removal process as painless as possible before catching sight of your wastebasket and throwing it out.

“Where’s your bathroom?”

“When you walk out, it should be immediately to the right.”

“Thanks.” You heard running water, and a moment later his was back in the room, wiping the sweat off his face with a washcloth and cleaning you up before cleaning himself off too. He returned the washcloth from where it came, and as he walked back into the room to lay back down, you got up yourself.

“Gotta use the bathroom,” You said sheepishly. Once you were done, you returned to the room and found him already in your bed and climbed in next to him, settling in to his warmth as he wrapped an arm around you.

“That was fantastic.” He said kissing the top of your head.

“More than that.” You responded. Those were the last words spoken that night, the both of you easily drifting off to sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> Rob's hairstyle is from the Minutes to Midnight era.


End file.
